Five Conversations
by screaming-poetically
Summary: It was never a matter of when they'd talk. It was a matter of if. Five conversations Calleigh and Ryan never had. CR.


**Title:** Five Conversations  
**Pairing:** Calleigh/Ryan  
**Disclaimer:** The names of all characters contained herein are the property of Anthony Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer Television, CBS and Alliance Atlantis. No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and are used here without permission.  
**A/N:** Written as a Christmas fic request for goddessloki.

01.

Calleigh gently shrugged on her jacket in the locker room after shift. It had been a difficult day, and she had just concluded an even more difficult case. It was late. At least ten o'clock, if she estimated right. What she didn't need right now was Ryan coming in here and trying to talk to her. She knew that he had been trying to say something to her all day. He was new, and she understood that he felt out of place. She really did understand that. But she didn't want him to ask her about Tim, because odds were that was going to be the topic of conversation.

"Calleigh?"

She sighed. "Ryan. How, well, have you been liking your time here at the crime lab?" That 'well' had been a pause, a lull in the conversation they were just starting, but he didn't need to know that.

"Yeah. I like it here. A lot better than being on patrol. But you know, I've been meaning to ask you--"

"Look," Calleigh interjected, "Ryan. I don't really feel like talking right now. How about tomorrow, because I really have to get home, get some rest."

Ryan came closer to her, resolve radiating off him in waves. He wasn't going to give up. "I get the feeling that you think I'm trying to replace him. I'm not. He obviously meant something to all of you, and I don't want to ruin that. You're sad, and I'm just trying to be nice. And…" He frowned. "I just want to fit in."

"Tim left, okay? And it's going to take a while before we're close, you and I, because I'm not ready to be close yet. I miss him too much. Now I have to go."

Ryan leaned against the lockers as Calleigh hurried out of the locker room, thinking that it wasn't so bad to have had this conversation with her. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long before they were close.

02.

"You know, I am so sick and tired of everything we talk about being…" Calleigh threw up her hands. "Delko."

He shrugged. Maybe it was part of being a guy, but he really didn't understand what the problem was. All they were doing was talking about a fellow colleague. A friend. There was nothing wrong with that, right? Calleigh had known Delko longer than he had, so she had better insight into his character. Who better to discuss Delko with?

"Look, Calleigh, I just don't understand the guy's problem. Why are you getting so defensive, anyway? You always take his side. I understand I'll never be as dear to you but you could at least pretend."

"Funny," she said, grabbing a DNA profile report off her desk. "He says the same thing about you."

03.

She was sleeping. Ryan looked at his watch. Jesus, it was almost nine o'clock in the morning. Her shift had started almost two hours ago. Horatio had to know that she was here in the lab…sleeping. He didn't know why the idea of Calleigh being so tired that she slept through one shift and into the next offended him so much. It struck him in the next minute or so, when he knew that he had to wake her up. It was because of her dad. Calleigh was probably about during her previous shift taking her dad out of bars, making sure he didn't drive the streets of Miami intoxicated.

"Cal? Hey. Rise and shine, Detective Duquesne."

"Oh, my God. Ryan? What time is it? I must've slept through my last shift. I am so sorry. This is terrible."

Ryan grinned and put his hand gently on her shoulder. Because he knew it would make her feel better, he addressed each of her particular concerns. "Relax, Calleigh. It's almost nine o'clock. You did sleep through your last shift. Horatio knows you're here, so you're aces. And the only thing that's terrible is the fact that it happened. You shouldn't have to take care of your dad like this, you know?"

He could feel her muscles stiffen beneath his hand as she said, "He's my father, Ryan, and it is _none_ of your business what I have to do."

"Don't give me that, Calleigh. You're my friend. I know you love him, and you want to take care of him, but there's a line. It's getting in the way of your work and your health. It's not good for you."

Calleigh pushed herself out of her chair and turned to face Ryan so quickly he braced himself for a hard slap across the face. "You may be my friend, but that doesn't give you the right to worry about me." As she left the room, her hand giving a quick run-through of her hair, Ryan felt very confused.

04.

He had found her. She didn't know exactly how he did it, because she had been avoiding him all day. And while that wasn't what one would expect of Calleigh Duquesne, because a coward she did not make, she didn't really feel up to facing him right then. He had said things she didn't even know he knew how to say, and the way he had made her feel--

"Calleigh? I was wondering if we could talk. About last night. Because, well, we do work together and if we start seeing each other I wouldn't want to be awkward because I care about you too much. You are very wonderful, you know, and…"

Calleigh closed her eyes, trying to forget Ryan. She couldn't. (His thumb on her bottom lip as he whispered her name, the way he kissed her soft and sweet, the firm weight of his body on hers as he pressed her into the bed.)

"Ryan, I'm sorry. We shouldn't. Last night was a mistake. We clearly have an attraction to each other, but we shouldn't make this into any more than it is. It was just sex, you know? And it wouldn't do any good to either of us if we fooled ourselves into thinking it meant any more. It wouldn't be honest."

He nodded, and said, "Right. I'd better not say anymore. I wouldn't want you to think I'm dishonest."

She had hurt him, she realized, as she watched him walk out of the Trace Lab. She didn't know how it had come to this.

05.

The photos of the two victims and the crime scene were spread out over several tables in the layout room. The young women were exceptionally beautiful, something to be expected of a sampling of Miami's model elite. The blood spread out on the clothes and the floor surrounding them was oddly out of place, though. Ryan and Calleigh looked down at the photos, not touching anything until Calleigh reached down, and gingerly picked one up.

"That's something I'll never understand about this city, Ryan. A bunch of young women on the search for beauty because they think there's something wrong with them, and nothing is."

"Yeah. They're just kids."

"It's just…to be killed in the search for beauty, when it really isn't necessary?" She sighed. "Sometimes, I wish things were a bit more fair."

"You know you're beautiful, right, Calleigh?" Ryan looked at his partner intently, looking for the signs of any reaction his words might have on her. She tilted her head to face him, a slight smile lighting up her features.

"Well, it's certainly nice to hear it."

_finis._


End file.
